FAQs for groups

Booking information

All group visit options are listed under each location and in the Group Visits & Private Tours brochure. To register to receive a copy of the brochure, please e-mail [email protected], including your name, address, the name of your group and a contact telephone number, or view the brochure online.

Group admission prices for regular day visits apply to groups of 15 people or more. Minimum group sizes may vary for some private tours and special visits. Group admission prices are listed on the Visit pages for each residence and in the Group Visits & Private Tours brochure.

As the official residences of The Queen are working royal palaces, opening arrangements may change at short notice. Please check the Opening times & admission prices section of the Visit page under each residence before planning a visit or telephone the Ticket Sales and Information Office +44 (0)20 7766 7321.

Changing the Guard takes place throughout the year at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Please check the Changing the Guard schedule at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle before planning a visit.

Tours and guiding

Multimedia tours are included in the admission price at all residences, apart from Frogmore House and Clarence House, where guided tours are provided, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where audio guides are provided. They do not need to be pre-booked.

Guidebooks are available for Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Russian; guidebooks are also available in Brazilian Portuguese for Buckingham Palace only.

English guidebooks are available for the Royal Mews, Clarence House and Frogmore House.

At all locations, only Royal Collection Trust-authorised Blue Badge Guides are permitted to guide in designated areas at selected residences. No guiding is permitted inside the buildings. For further information relating to guiding please visit the Visiting in a group page for each residence.

How to get there

London residences: There is no coach parking near Buckingham Palace, The Queen’s Gallery, the Royal Mews or Clarence House. For Buckingham Palace, coaches can pick up passengers after they exit the Palace on Grosvenor Place. Please note that there is a strict 'no waiting' policy in place so coaches cannot linger in this areas. For the remaining sites, once your booking is confirmed we will advise the nearest set down and pick up points. Further information on coach parking is available on from Transport for London.

Windsor residences: Coach parking is available on Alma Road in the town centre and is clearly signed from all approach routes. A lift takes visitors from the Coach Park to Windsor Royal Station, a 5– to 10-minute walk to the Castle entrance. Coaches cannot set down or pick up passengers at the entrance to Windsor Castle. Free coach parking for Frogmore House is accessible via Shaw Farm Gate.

Edinburgh residences: Free coach parking is available adjacent to the Palace, accessible via Abbeyhill. Coach drivers must remain with the vehicle for the duration of the visit. Please note that coach parking is limited only to those groups seeking paid admission to the Palace or The Queen's Gallery.

Maps of coach parking and passenger set down and pick up areas can be found on the Visiting in a group pages for each residence and in the Quick Reference Section of the Group Visits & Private Tours brochure.

All sites, except Frogmore House, are easily accessible by public transport. For full details, please see the How to get there pages for each residence or check in the Quick Reference Section of the Group Visits & Private Tours brochure.

Visitor facilities

London residences: During the Summer Opening of the State Rooms, a selection of hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, salads and cakes is available in the Garden Café. The cafe is only accessible after a visit to the State Rooms. Groups are welcome, but tables cannot be reserved in advance. No refreshment facilities are available at the Royal Mews or The Queen's Gallery.

Windsor residences: No formal refreshment facilities are available. If visitors would like to leave the Castle for refreshments during a visit, a free re-entry band can be obtained from any of the Castle shops and, during busy periods, at the Audio Returns Point. No refreshment facilities are available at Frogmore House.

Edinburgh residences: Café at the Palace offers a range of hot and cold refreshments and lunch. Groups can reserve a table or pre-order take-away food.

A wide range of exclusive merchandise, exhibition catalogues and books about the royal residences and the Royal Collection are available from this website and Royal Collection Trust shops at each location.

Group organiser resources

Free images are available to download from the image-download service; please use the online form to apply to use this service. These images can only be used to promote visits to the locations and must be credited to the photographer and carry the full Royal Collection Trust copyright.

To keep up to date with all the latest group visits and tours, subscribe to our groups e-Newsletter by sending your full name, the name of your group, address and a contact telephone number to [email protected].

Future Programme

Over the next few years Royal Collection Trust is undertaking a series of projects at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse to deliver major improvements to the visitor experience at the two Palaces. The developments will change the way visitors are welcomed to the Palaces and how the buildings are interpreted, create new Learning Centres and visitor facilities, and open up new spaces. You can find out more about Future Programme here.

Work will begin on-site in 2017 and will proceed in several phases over approximately two years. The Palaces will remain open throughout and the schedule of works is being designed to ensure minimum impact on visitors.

The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.